Automatic winder for timepieces



March 4 1924. 1,485,739

E. L. THOMAS AUTOMATIC WINDER FOR TIMEPIECES Filed June 12, 1922 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Iva/671707 J7 7-71) rn y- March 4 1924. 1,485,739

E. L. THOMAS AUTOMATIC WINDER FOR TIMEPIECES Filed June 12, 1922 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 4, 1924.

EDWIN L. THOMAS, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

. AUTOMATIC WINDER FOR TIEMEPIECES;

Application filed June 12, 1922. Serial No. 567,566.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN L. THOMAS, a citizen of the United Statesresiding at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of Xew iork, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Automatic Winders forTimepieces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a mechanical winding device for automaticallyrewinding a time piece, such as a clock, by power derived from aconstantly rotating element, as for instance the main driving shaft of aspeedometer operatively connected with the driving mechanism of anautomobile.

it is now a common practice to incorporate a clock in the same casingwhich contains the mechanism of a speedometer, roadonicter, etc, formingpart of the equip ment of such vehicles, but as these clocks have beenonly provided with the conventional hand winding device, they are oftenneglected and this renders them useless for the purpose intended.

The object of this invention is to pro vide simple, efficient andreliable means whereby a clock will be automatically rewound when thesame has run down to a predetermined extent by power derived from thespeedometer driving shaft or other available source and thus relieve theattendant of this duty and ensure maintenance of correct time.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a speedometer equipped with myinvention. Figure 2. is a rear elevation of the same. Figure 3 is a sideelevation thereof, partly in section. Figure 1 is a sectional rearelevation, on an enlarged scale, showing the parts of my improvements inposition for rewinding the main-spring by power. Figure 5 is a similarview. showing the parts in the position which they occupy when rewindingof the main sprin has been completed. Figure 6 is a vertical sectiontaken on line 66, Fig. 5. Figures 7 and 8 are horizontal sections takenon the correspondingly numbered lines in Fig. 5. Figure 9 is ahorizontal section taken on line 99, Fig. 6.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views.

In the drawings my invention is shown in connection with a speedometeras an example of one way in which the same may be installed but it is tobe understood that the same mayv be operated either directly orindirectly from anyavailable shaft or moving part of other kinds ofvehicles or apparatus, such for instance as the revolvingshaft of anautomobile, motor cycle, locomotive, aeroplane or motor boat. I

In the drawings, the main frame or casin of the speedometer isgenerally, represented by the numeral 10 upon which the various workingparts of the speedometer and clock are mounted. 11 represents theregistering. mechanism of the speedometer which may be of any suitableconstruction and isdriven from any suitable moving part of theantomobileby a driving shaft 12 which rotates constantly so long as-the automobileis running. 13 represents themain spring of the clock which is of theusual spiral form and connected at its inner end with a winding shaft lthaving a squareend 15 for thereception of a key while its outer endisconnected with a cylindrical casing 16 having.

a gear rim 17 whereby. thepower of this spring is transmitted to themechanismof the clock which is'to be driven, .18 represents a ratchetwheel secured to the winding shaft and 19 a detent pawl engaging withthe teeth of the ratchet wheel'for the purpose of permitting-the same toonly turn forwardly in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 7, butpreventing" the same'from turning backwardly. This detentpawl turns on apin 20 and is yieldingl held with its, tooth in engagement with t eratchet; Wheel awl with by a spring 21 connecting the rdina'rily,

the pivot pin on-which it turns:

this detent pawl is mounted on a stationary partof the clock, such'asthe frame, butin the present case the same is mounted'on a" tensionlever 22 which turns loosely'at its inner end on the winding shaft andis 'con nected with a shifting spring 23 which tends to turn the tensionlever in a direction opposite to that which the same tends to turn underthe action of themain-spring. The power of thisshifting spring may beexerted on the tension lever in any suitable} manner, for instance, asshownin the 'draw' ings, by connecting one endof this spring to ashifting rod 24 which is *pivot'allyeon nected with thetension leverwhile th'e'other end of the shifting spring is connected with theenclosing casing orfrarne'.

25 represents'an"intermediate gear when" which meshes with the ratchetwheel and is secured to an intermediate shaft 26 j ournaled on the mainframe. 27 represents a countershaft arranged at right angles to theintermediate shaftand operatively connected therewith by intermeshingbevel gear wheels 28, 529, secured respectively to one end of thecountershaft and the adjacent part of the intermediate shaft, as bestshown in Fig. 6. This countershaft may be journaled in a bearing 30 onthe main frame or any other approved manner.

32 represents an intermittently driven gear wheel arranged axially inline with the countershaft and preferably journaled by engaging atrunnion 31 on one end of its hub with cylindrical bearing 33 on thatend of the countershaft opposite to its gear wheel 28, and a trunnion 3%on the opposite end of said hub and turning in a bearing 35 on the mainframe. This driven gear wheel is engaged on one side by a mutilateddri'ving gear pinion 36 which is secured to the continuously turningdriving shaft of the speedometer, which pinion has a section of itsteeth removed for about one-quarter of its periphery, so that duringeach rotation of the mutilated pinion the same will produce a partialturn of the driven intermittent gear wheel and then permitthe latter toremain at rest for a short perio the ratio of said pinion and gear wheelbeing preferably one turn of the pinion to four of the ear wheel.

The intermittent gear wheel and countershaft are adapted to be coupledand uncoupled by a clutch which may be of any suitable construction, butpreferably by the clutch which is shown in the drawings and whichcomprises a longitudinally-movable clutch sleeve 37 connected by aspline 38 with the countershaft so as to be compelled to turn therewithbut free to slide lengthwise thereon and provided at one end with clutchjaws or lugs 39 which are adapted to engage and disengage withcorresponding clutch jaws or lugs 40 on the adjacent end of the hub ofthe intermittent gear wheel. This clutch sleeve is moved lengthwise by aclutch lever 50, preferably of forked construction, pivoted at one endon the main frame and connected at its opposite end by the shifting rod2% with the tension lever, while its intermediate part is provided withshoes or lugs 41 engaging with opposite sides of the periphery 42 of theclutch sleeve between collars 43, e arranged at opposite ends of theclutch sleeve and spaced apart a greater distance than the length ofsaid shoes.

The clutch sleeve is frictionally held in the position in which the sameis disengaged from the intermittent gear wheel by means which yieldinglyrestrain its movement toward this gear wheel until a predeterminedpressure has been applied to overcome the same and cause the same tomove suddenly into engagement with this gear wheel. The preferred meansfor this purpose shown in the drawings comprise a restraining recess 45arranged in the periphery of the countershaft, a restraining pawl 46having the form of a. ball adapted to engage said recess, a pocket l?arranged on one end of said sleeve and receiving said ball, and a springa8 arranged in the pocket between its bottom and said ball and operatingto hold the latter yieldingly in engagement with said restrainingrecess.

The operation of this mechanism is as follows:

lVhen the main clock spring is wound up fully, or nearly so, the tensionof the main spring 13 is so much greater than the shifting spring thatthe latter is overcome for the time being and yields to thepreponderating strength or pull of the main spring, whereby the tensionlever 22 is raised by the inner end of the main spring through themedium of the winding shaft, ratchet wheel, and detent pawl, the clutchlever is raised until the shoes 41 engage the upper shoulder 43 of theclutch sleeve and raise the same until it engages its upper end with thestop 49 on the main frame, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6, thereby uncouplingthe clutch sleeve from the intermittent gear wheel 32 and arresting thefurther transmission of motion from the latter to the countershaft. Inthis position of the parts, the intermittent gear wheel is turned stepby step during the rotation of the mutilated pinion 36 without affectingthe clock mechanism. At this time, the restraining pawl i6 is also heldfirmly in engagement with the restraining recess 45 so that the clutchsleeve is additionally held by friction away from the intermittent gearwheel 32.

As the main spring 13 gradually unwinds or runs down the same lJQ-OIUQSweaker and predominates decreasingn: over the power of the shiftingspring 23. After he pull of the main spring been reduced so as topractically balance the pull of the tension spring, the tension leverand clutch lever will still be held in their retracted positionsindicated in Fig. 5, owing to the frictional locking engagement of therestraining pawl 46 with the restraining recess if). The main springtherefore continues to weaker during the continued operation of theclock until the shifting spring not only preponderates in pulling powerover the main spring but also overcomes the frictional locl-r be tweenthe clutch and the countershaft and when this occurs this frictionallock lets go suddenly and permits the shifting spring to quickly depressthe tension lever and clutch lever and cause the shoes of the latter tostrike the lower collar 44 of the lutch sleeve and force the jaws of thesame into engagement with those of the intermittent gear wheel, as shownin Figs. 2, 3, and 4. Motion is now transmitted from the driving shaft12 through the train of ears36, 32,

28, 29, 25 and 18 to the inner en of the main spring, so that the latteris wound up. This winding up action is however not continuous butintermittent and only increases the tension on the main spring one stepat a time, this being due to the mutilated pinion 36 and the detent pawl19 in the following manner:

When the teeth of the mutilated pinion mesh with the teeth of theintermittent gear wheel, the latter and the ratchet wheel 18 are turnedforwardly so as to produce a winding effect on the inner end of the mainspring, during which time the ratchet wheel trips forwardly past thedetent pawl a number of teeth and moves the tension and clutch leversupwardly or backwardly one step without however at this time disturbingthe clutch sleeve because the shoes of the clutch lever are moving awayfrom the lower collar 44. and have not reached the upper collar 43 ofthe same. When the blank or toothless part of the mutilated pinionpasses the teeth of the intermittent gear wheel, a slight backlash inthe tram of gears occurs due to the action of the main spring whichhowever is only equal to part of a tooth of the ratchet wheel inasmuchas the detent pawl is immediately engaged with the ratchet wheel by thespring 21, so as to prevent any retrograde movement of the latterrelatively to the detent pawl, thereby retaining the winding up effectwhich has been put into the main spring and increasing the upward pullof the same on the tension spring 23. This operation is repeated duringevery rotation of the mutilated gear pinion so that by alternatelyturning the ratchet wheel forwardly past the detent pawl and thencutting off the winding up power derived from the mutilated gear pinionand letting the increased tension on the main spring exert itselfagainst the tension lever through the detent pawl 19, a gradual buildingup of the power of the main spring is effected. As the main springincreases in strength, the upward or backward pull of the same on theshifting spring 28 gradually increases until this pull is sufficientlystrong to raise the clutch lever and the clutch sleeve up far enough todisengage the latter from the intermittent gear wheel. \Vhen thisoccurs, the main sprmg has been wound up enough to properly operate theclock mechanism and thereafter the intermittent gear wheel and mutilatedgear pinion continue to rotate idly until the main spring has again rundown sufficlently to require rewinding when the operation ofaccomplishing this automatically is resumed in the manner previouslydescribed.

This invention can be embodied in any time piece and is particularlysuited for use in connection with distance or speed measuring devicesand can be operated from any available source of power or prime moveroutside of the mechanism of the time piece.

I claim as my invention:

1. A time piece having a main spring, a prime mover which normally movesconstantly, and means for intermittently coupling Said prime mover withsaid main spring for rewinding the latter and constructed to permit aback lash after each winding step.

2. A time piece having a main spring, a ratchet wheel connected with themain spring, a tension lever, a detent pawl mounted on said tensionlever and engaging said ratchet wheel, a shifting spring opposing saidmain spring and operatively connected with said lever, a driving shaftwhich normally turns constantly, and a clutch mechanism for producing apower transmitting connection and disconnection between said shaft andratchet wheel and responsive to the preponderance of strength in themain spring or said tension spring.

3. A time piece having a main spring, a ratchet wheel connected with themain spring, a tension lever, a detent pawl mounted on said tensionlever and engaging said ratchet wheel, a shifting spring opposing saidmain spring and operatively connected with said lever, a driving shaft,and a clutch mechanism for producing a power transmitting connection anddisconnection between said shaft and ratchet wheel and responsive to thepreponderance of strength in the main spring or said tension spring andcomprising a mutilated gear pinion arranged on said driving shaft, anintermittent gear wheel meshing with said pinion, and means for couplingand uncoupling the driving connection between said intermittent gearwheel and said ratchet wheel.

4. A time piece having a main spring, a ratchet wheel connected with themain spring, a tension lever, a detent pawl mounted on said tensionlever and engaging said ratchet wheel, a shifting spring opposing saidmain spring and operatively connected with said lever, a driving shaft,and a clutch mechanism for producing a power transmitting connection anddisconnection between said shaft and ratchet wheel and responsive to thepreponderance of strength in the main spring or said tension spring andcomprising a mutilated gear pinion arranged on said driving shaft, anintermittent gear wheel meshing with said pinion, a countershaft,gearing connecting said countershaft and ratchet wheel, and a clutch forconnecting and disconnecting said countershaft and intermittent gearwheel.

5. A time piece having a main spring, a ratchet wheel connected with themain spring, a tension lever, a detent pawl mounted on said tensionlever and engaging said ratchet wheel, a shifting spring opposing saidmain spring and operatively connected with said lever, a driving shaft,and a clutch mechanism for producing a power transmitting connection anddisconnection between said shaft and ratchet wheel and responsive to thepreponderance of strength in the main spring or said tension spring andcomprisin a mutilated gear pinion arranged on said driving shaft, anintermittent gear wheel meshing with said pinion, a countershait,gearing connecting said countershaft and ratchet wheel, a clutch sleevesplined on said countershaft and adapted to be coupled with anduncoupled from said intermittent gear wheel, and a clutch leverconnected with said tension lever and operatively connected with saidclutch sleeve.

6. A time piece having a main spring, a ratchet wheel connected with themain spring, a tension lever, a detent pawl mounted on said tensionlever and engaging said ratchet wheel, a shifting spring opposing saidmain spring and operatively connected with said lever, a dr ving shaft,and a clutch mechanism for producing a power transmitting connection anddisconnection between said shaft and ratchet wheel and responsive to thepreponderance of strength in the main spring or said tension spring andcomprising a mutilated gear pinion arranged on said driving shaft, anintermittent gear wheel meshing with said pinion, a countershaft,gearing connecting said countershaft and ratchet wheel, a clutch sleevesplined on said countershaft and adapted to be coupled with anduncoupled from said intermittent gear wheel and provided with spacedcollars, and a clutch lever connected with said tension lever and havinga part adapted to engage either with one or the other of said collars.

7. A time piece having a main spring, a winding shaft connected with theinner end of said main spring, a power transmittin member connected withthe outer end 0 said main spring, atension lever, a detent pawl mountedon said tension lever and adapted to engage said ratchet wheel, anintermediate gear wheel meshing with said ratchet wheel, a countershaft,intermeshing bevel gear wheels connected respectively with saidcountershaft and intermediate gear wheel, a clutch sleeve splined onsaid countershaft and having collars at its 0pposite ends and clutchjaws at one end, a clutch lever connected with the tension lever andhaving shoes moving between the collars of said sleeve, an intermittentgear wheel having clutch jaws, a shifting spring opposing said mainspring and operating to turn said levers in the direction for engagingthe jaws of the clutch sleeve with the intermit' tent gear Wheel, and arotatable mutilated gear pinion meshing with said intermittent gearwheel.

EDWIN L. THOMAS.

